Press
Europe's carbon push stokes backlash fears
09 July 2021
Reuters
"A carbon price is the most efficient way to encourage businesses and households to cut emissions," said Elisabetta Cornago, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in Brussels, adding that such policies should aim to redistribute any revenues generated to low-income households.
Climate policy will be a casualty of this decade of bungling
08 July 2021
The Spectator
Elisabetta Cornago and Sam Lowe at the Centre for European Reform have taken a deep dive into the CBAM proposals - and see lots of problems.
Why new post-Brexit ‘UKCA’ standard is proving such a headache for industry
08 July 2021
Financial Times
At the moment, as Sam Lowe, the trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, explains, this is essentially a duplicative process because UK standards follow EU standards in the “vast majority of cases”.
Why Europe’s payments champion should innovate, not imitate
07 July 2021
Encompass
Several European banks announced last year they would create a European version of Visa and Mastercard, called the European Payment Initiative.
Can the UK's new European diplomatic strategy work?
06 July 2021
Encompass
Since it left the EU, the UK has been vigorously trying to emphasise the purported benefits of Brexit. In foreign policy, this has meant trying to present itself as more agile and effective than the EU.
Europe faces sceptical globe with carbon border levy
05 July 2021
Reuters
The WTO grants preferential treatment to developing countries, as does the EU with arrangements for the poorest states. If they do not extend to the CBAM, charges could hit $16 billion of developing country exports to the EU, the Centre for European Reform think-tank says.
UK move to protect steel industry at risk of WTO challenge
04 July 2021
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, said the TRA’s ruling against extending the safeguards “could certainly be part of a country’s challenge at the WTO”. However, he pointed out that such challenges “took ages”, while Truss’s decision only extends the tariffs on the five additional categories by a further year.
Bloomberg: Merkel-Johnson summit
02 July 2021
Charles Grant, director of the CER told Bloomberg TV that the UK and Germany's intertwined economies mean some co-operation has to take place
The best way to reset UK-Germany relations would be a change of government in London
02 July 2021
The New Statesman
As a new paper by Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform notes, Germany and the UK signed a “Joint Vision Statement” on security in 2018; they are both part of the “Northern Group” of states around the North and Baltic seas; along with France they comprise the “E3” states crucial to the Iran nuclear deal; German leaders among others have in the past contemplated the idea of a European Security Council that binds in the UK.
EU confident holdout states will join global tax deal
02 July 2021
Law 360
The EU countries not signing the deal "pose a serious risk to implementing the [global] deal in the European Union," said Zach Meyers, a research fellow at the Center for European Reform. "This is because an EU-level directive will be needed to implement the deal and that directive would require unanimity, so it cannot be imposed on unwilling EU member states," he told Law360.
Covid pandemic masks Brexit impact on UK economy
01 July 2021
Financial Times
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: “Generally, Covid has swamped the economic data making any comparisons difficult, so we cannot really disentangle the Brexit effect.”
UK unveils emergency legislation to protect domestic steelmakers
30 June 2021
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, said it was no longer possible for British ministers to point the finger at Brussels when it came to issues like trade or subsidy control.
Northern Ireland Assembly: Finance Committee
30 June 2021
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the CER spoke to the Northern Ireland Assembly Finance Committee on customs and the movement of goods (from 2:02).
Brexit: So close, yet so far…
30 June 2021
The Parliament Magazine
Despite current difficulties, the UK and the EU will, in the long run, forge closer economic and security ties, predicts Charles Grant.
Royal yacht or fishing trawler? Either way, even the royal family isn't interested
27 June 2021
The New York Times
“At the very most, it could be useful as a trade promotion tool,” said Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform in London. “But it won’t make even the tiniest difference to whether UK concludes a trade deal or not.”
La moraleja de las salchichas de Johnson
27 June 2021
El Pais
Los grandes proyectos históricos necesitan, principalmente, políticos de Estado y planes estratégicos. Downing Street no tiene ni lo uno ni lo otro.
He saved 31 people at sea. Then got a 142-year prison sentence.
25 June 2021
The New York Times
“It’s very difficult for Greece but also for the EU to co-operate with Turkey to crack down on trafficking,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in Brussels. “It’s easier for the Greek authorities to say ‘You were there, you were steering the boat and so you are charged with this crime.’”
CER podcast: Frans Timmermans on the EU and climate
25 June 2021
John Springford discusses Frans Timmermans' remarks at a recent CER event with Elisabetta Cornago.
Towards a reinvigorated West?
24 June 2021
Aspenia Online
After the acrimony of the Trump years, the first in-person summits between US President Joe Biden and European leaders were bound to be a feel-good moment.
The real ‘Brexit dividend’? Minus £800m a week – and counting
23 June 2021
The Independent
The Centre for European Reform think tank has run a doppelganger modelling exercise, examining and comparing other countries’ trade patterns since the start of this year, that suggests Brexit has reduced UK goods exports by 11 per cent, or £7.7bn relative to where they otherwise would have been.